'He deserves that': After possibly final home start, Mikolas walks off to ovation

ST. LOUIS -- Standing in front of his locker in Milwaukee last Sunday, Miles Mikolas mused about what the future might hold for him heading into his first free agent winter since returning from Japan ahead of the 2018 season.

“If they need somebody to just pitch at Busch Stadium,” Mikolas mused that day, “one of those Roger Clemens deals, right? I’ll just pitch at home, go to home games.”

It is safe to assume that whatever Mikolas’ future holds, it won’t be that, though the 37-year-old does intend to continue his career. On Saturday, in front of fans in St. Louis for perhaps the last time after eight years as a Cardinal, he turned in a vintage performance in a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Brewers.

“I’ll just bottle those up until my deathbed, probably,” Mikolas joked about his emotions in the aftermath of the disappointing loss. “It’s sad, you know? The end of a pretty good run I’ve had here. Didn’t go exactly the way I wanted. I thought I threw the ball pretty well. Maybe a little bit better, it could’ve been a couple more innings or something, but, you know, yeah, it’s a little sad.”

He struck out just three and scattered seven hits and two walks across five competent innings, exiting with the lead but recording a no-decision after Kyle Leahy surrendered a sac fly in the sixth to Andrew Vaughn which drove in Caleb Durbin, to whom Mikolas allowed a leadoff double.

“Usually we’d just let [Kyle] Leahy take the entire sixth, but we wanted him to have that moment of coming off the mound,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s done a nice job for the organization. He’s posted a ton and given us innings, so we allowed him to have one hitter and come off. He deserves that.”

Mikolas spent three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball after cameo appearances in the big leagues with the Padres and Rangers, and he returned with a mastery of his craft that allowed the Cardinals to lean on him for the better part of a decade. Saturday marked his 100th appearance – and 99th start – at Busch Stadium, trailing only franchise legend Adam Wainwright in starts at this ballpark.

He exited on Saturday after throwing his 95th pitch, and received a polite smattering of applause from the home crowd which grew in fervor after he prompted them with a tip of his own cap, acknowledging his long-time home crowd and feeling them acknowledge him in return.

“I really appreciate that,” Mikolas said of the crowd’s response. “Whether you’re clapping because you’re going to miss me or clapping because you’re glad to see me leaving, clapping is good, you know? I’ll take it either way.”

Scoring in the game was suspended following Durbin’s sixth inning sacrifice fly until Brice Turang battled JoJo Romero to a bases-loaded, two-out single in the top of the 10th which scored Jackson Chourio to break the tie.

Brendan Donovan led off the bottom of the frame with a sharp comebacker to Brewers reliever Jared Koenig, and Lars Nootbaar froze between second and third rather than making a quick move back to the bag. Koenig eventually threw to first, prompting Nootbaar to try to advance, but he was late in doing so and Andruw Monasterio threw across the diamond to Durbin for the unorthodox double play.

“He’ll review that, and he’ll learn from it,” Marmol said of the baserunning mistake. Nootbaar was not available postgame for comment.

With uncertainty on the horizon but accepting that he’s unlikely to return to St. Louis, Mikolas acknowledged that his home here has already been packed up in preparation for a move. Born and raised in Jupiter, Fla., where the Cardinals have their Spring Training complex, the righty is prepared for a winter at home with his wife and four young children, raising chickens and fishing from the Atlantic.

He stood in front of his locker on Saturday in a T-shirt which read “Life goes on, man,” beside a portrait of Jeff Bridges in costume as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, the eponymous main character of The Big Lebowski. Asked if he considered any other outfits for his planned last game, Mikolas – an undeniable clothes horse – said that he made special care to leave this shirt out when the heavy duty packing got underway.

“Life goes on, man,” he said through a wide smile. “This is it. It’s all I’ve got.”

It’s what he gave the Cardinals, in good times and bad, over the last eight years, a workhorse to the end.